Bullying is currently a very emotive and well-publicised issue, featuring frequently in TV programmes and newspapers.  It is no longer accepted as an inevitable part of school life affecting only weak and inadequate victims, but, instead, as a social ill, with long-term psychological effects on both bully and victim, that needs to be eradiated from schools and work places. This research project provides a detailed exploration of fictional representations of bullying in contemporary teen fiction.  It approaches the main research question, “How is Bullying Presented in Contemporary Teen Fiction”? through four subsidiary research questions and interviews with some of the writers in the desk study, against a background of children’s/adolescent literature criticism and psychological, sociological and educational research on bullying in schools.  Thus, the research project utilises current academic thought in two different fields: English and Education. Through the first subsidiary question, the patterns in the presentation of bullying are explored.  Issues of gender, modes of aggression and types of bullying (racial, sexual and organisational) are discussed.  The focus of the research narrows into examining the construction of the bully and victim experience through the second and third subsidiary research questions respectively.  Contemporary presentations are compared with the presentations in generic boys’ and girls’ school stories and considered in the light of current thinking in bullying research.  The fourth subsidiary research question refocuses the research on the narrative design of novels in the desk study by exploring the common strategies writers use in narratives dealing with bullying and the nature of the resolutions to ending the bullying relation offered to readers.  These are considered further as Entwicklungsroman through adolescent literature criticism and notions of adolescent growth, power, maturation and alienation.

I conducted two pieces of research, the first using a method known as discourse analysis, the second interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The form of discourse analysis which was employed takes as its focus the analysis of verbal or written reports as behaviours in their own right. This was applicable to my first research project, which looked at the construction of a crisis in male mental health as represented in a series of newspaper articles. A position is taken that an awareness of the discourses surrounding masculinity is necessary for therapists who seek to help men with problematic enactments. I have been interested in this area since my involvement with research into male suicide. During the final year of my course I picked up the thread of this work in a review of the literature which explored how masculinity was theorized, including a focus on hegemonic constructions of masculinity and the implications for therapy. For example, it was suggested that seeking therapy itself conflicts with predominant enactments of masculinity. In addition there was an exploration of theoretical frameworks which might be appropriate for working with men. The use of IPA in my second research project links with the use of discourse analysis in the recognition of the importance of context and language in the shaping of the material gained. However, unlike discourse analysis, there is an attempt to gain an understanding of underlying cognitions in individual participants. The study looked at the subjective experiences of woman who had been bullied in childhood as represented in retrospect accounts obtained by interview. It was hoped to begin to address an inbalance in the research which had focused predominantly on the male experience, perhaps reflecting a general belief that bullying is more common amongst boys. I was interested in gaining insight into the memories of the bullying itself and its context and also into the meaning of the experience for the participants in terms of their developing selves.

This dissertation examines the effect of stress on the service quality of the call centre employees. Stress is a much known phenomenon in every industry, but in this dissertation the researcher evaluated its impact on call centre employee’s service quality performance. It has been widely recognised that stress at work can result in a host of adverse outcomes for both employees and organisations (Nigam et al, 2003). The literature related to the stress and its impact on service quality in call centre industry will explored many factors and situations which work as job stressors in call centre industry and how they affect the service quality. The following research also focuses on the issues related to employee safety and health and how those stressful conditions making employees emotional exhausted. The study also sought various management interventions to find the solution for the stress reducing schemes in order to give relief to its employees so they can perform in much better environment. The research methodology used in this dissertation includes research philosophy, research approach, and research strategy, sampling design and data collection methods. The data was collected by using quantitative questions questionnaires which will help researcher to reach a conclusion. Based on the data analysis findings, conclusion has been drawn which will help to support the laid hypothesis of the research. Recommendations also have been made on the basis of result generated for future research in the same area and also guiding the management to take recommended action to sort out the problems related to stress in call centre industry.